My daughter has taken the Blood Type Diet much more seriously since last summer. She tends to be pear shaped like me. However because she is not quite 5'3" tall, just a few extra pounds can make a big difference in how her clothes fit.

Last summer when she realized she could barely squeeze into her jeans, she said, "enough is enough" and set out to lose some weight and reshape her body. Her self-discipline has been remarkable. She gave up all the wheat based afternoon snacks that were neutral to her. She stopped eating anything after dinner. She started seriously exercising. Her efforts have been rewarded. Her jeans fit fabulously, and her muscle tone is to be envied.

However she worries too much. She worries when she goes to a restaurant whether she will find anything beneficial. She worries when she goes out with friends and is pressured to eat ice cream or some such treat. She worried a lot about what she would eat while we were visiting family at Christmas.

I watch her carefully. She has not stepped across the line into dangerous obsessive behavior. She came close a few times, but conversations about beneficial foods and Dr. D's concept of "foods that act like medicine" brought her back to a healthy perspective.

I don't want to see her worry. The Blood Type Diet ought to free us to live a more abundant life rather than adding a new level of anxiety in an already anxious world.

I do not ever want to reach a point where I live in fear that an occasional avoid will do me irrevocable harm. That simply is not true. I want to be healthy, but healthy involves not only what I eat, but being in a peaceful and confident state of mind.

I read this during my Bible study this morning. I'm going to share it with my daughter after school this afternoon. I thought you might enjoy reading it as well. It's from chapter 6 of Matthew.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

This entry was posted on January 8th, 2008 at 10:52:00 am and is filed under Earlier Blogs.